Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for December 21st, 2020

The ITC Extension. It wasn’t entirely expected to happen at this point in time but the ITC is likely to be extended for 2 years in a vote later today. The cliff from 26% to 22% will wait until the end of 2022 and 22% will stay through 2023. This will give large scale developers flexibility with placed in service procedures and safe harbor for all tax equity based structures. It also gives the industry another 2 years to get its act together and fight for a longer extension or even the ability to make the ITC permanent. Permanent may seem impossible but alcohol excise breaks were made permanent in today’s extender package. As of this moment, the actual bill language hasn’t been filed yet. We’ll update you when we see it.

The Policy Pros. Over the past two years the solar industry has figured out that policy is not a sometimes thing and always a full contact sport, spectators need not apply. You met with your representatives on the hill and in their district, educating them about your business, solar and the jobs you’ve created. SEIA worked both sides of the aisle, relentlessly and sometimes with folks, myself included, questioning whether that was the right way to play it. State trade groups worked to ensure that solar expanded within their area and governors were in tune with the policies in DC that ensure jobs are created in their state. CALSSA, for example, worked with members and their customers like schools and farmers to lobby for federal policies like the ITC with members of Congress. And environmental groups, not always kind to solar, have started to recognize that the ITC helps ensure that the energy transition is not only wise for the planet but for consumers’ pocketbooks as well. At the end of the day it was a team effort, congrats to everyone that spends their work fighting the good fight.

A Win Is Good Business. The ITC extension is the second best way to show that policy is business development. Second only to local net metering and interconnection rules for solar. Imagine if instead of lobbying, policy efforts had a price tag. Hypothetically, how much would you have paid to guarantee for the ITC extension to happen or that the net metering policy you have currently were kept in place? Like anything related to business development, there is no guarantees in life but you have to take the shot in order to make it. Policy is no different and if you want policies to change or remain the same so your business prospers, you have to change your sentiment. If I call or email you to ask you to join CALSSA, I’m not asking you to do so as an act of charity, I do it because California is the largest solar market in America and where good policies tend to start. Same is true for the team at SEIA and your state chapter. 1% is the number you should think about in my mind and I grant you that $200k for a $20million revenue business seems too high, but what if the most important regulation in your market changed for the worse? What if it got better? In the coming weeks I am going to ask leaders of trade groups to tell us what they would reasonably expect to accomplish if their market put 1% towards policy and share those notes with you.

Market Call Recap. You can catch our market update webinar replay for the next few days here. Make sure to listen to my call to action at the end. I appreciate Phil from Roth including me in the conversation.

Giving Week. Over the next week and a half, for the days that I publish, I’ll share with you one group that is deserving of $10 of your hard earned money. The ask will be $10 each time for a total of $50, it’ll be a good cause and some will be tax deductible. Today it’s Vote Solar. When it comes to nuance and wonky regulations, Vote Solar thrives. Adam and his team play the long game, getting involved in dockets requesting a new natural gas plant because anytime a monopoly wants something, they’re willing to give something and Vote Solar fights to get solar’s piece. Donate to Vote Solar here.

Housekeeping. Today and tomorrow you will get your typical daily newsletter. Afterwards, it will really depend on how much solar news is being made so it is possible and even likely that things will be sporadic between now and January 4th when we return to business as usual.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for December 18th, 2020

A Message On Policy. If you happened to participate in yesterday’s Roth call you heard me say this live. Companies in solar need to step up and so should everyone reading this. Over the past 15 years years we have transitioned solar from an industry that needs support to prove a point to being the fastest growing energy source with margins throughout the ecosystem. I read almost every form 4, and I don’t mean to pick on executives at public companies, but we are doing much better than ever before. The problem is most companies and executives view policy as charity, not a regulatory necessity or business development. Companies and executives alike should be setting aside 1% of their revenue to invest in policy efforts. That means if your revenues are $200million, you should be spending $2million on policy through staffing, lobbying, trade groups and political contributions. Let’s say that last year the revenues in US solar was $30billion, imagine how powerful solar would be if we spent $300million industry wide on policy efforts and therefore what would you say your salary, equity and net worth growth would be next year. Do you think we would be fighting for a 1 or 2 year ITC extension? Would SEIA and CALSSA have to struggle to find revenues because COVID killed in person events that raise a majority of the small budgets that operate our trade representatives? 1% is the number. I hope that every CEO and executive team at least spend time in a meeting talking about what this would look like on their P&L and what regulations would make that investment worth it and what policies could die if they don’t do it. Here’s my contribution to you, if you’re open to doing this and don’t know how to deploy that money, I will give you unbiased advice on how I would deploy if I were in your shoes.

And The Freeloaders. There is a list of companies in my mind and other policy pros. These companies are growing, profitable and lack participation at any level. You’d be shocked if I named names, which I won’t, of companies that aren’t members at state SEIA chapters or any trade group at all. They also tend to ignore the phone call that asks for their participation in fundraising drives and they definitely don’t have policy staff. If the solar industry has increased your net worth to over $10million, do me a favor and look at your policy spend. SEIA’s budget shouldn’t be $20million (in a normal year) and CALSSA shouldn’t be $2million, they should be 5x that number and would be if everyone participated.

Biden’s Climate Team. Biden has named names, Congresswoman Haaland to Interior, Michael Regan to EPA and Brenda Mallory to CEQ being added to the Granholm, McCarthy and Kerry announcements that came before. These are great names and will have the ability to do good things for the planet and solar. The next level of staffing will be great to see, I assume we will see names from inside our industry fairly soon.

No Spending/COVID Deal Yet. Negotiators continue to hash out the details of the covid stimulus. It is now expected that members of Congress will vote on a deal over the weekend but no word on if extenders get included and whether solar is included if they do.

30 Years Of Solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup (or find it on spotify or Apple), the podcast, I speak with Dan Shugar. Dan is the CEO of Nextracker, one of the largest tracker company in the world, currently owned by Flex. Dan has been thinking about solar for over 30 years and our conversation weaved through many of the periods that led us to where we are today, a mainstream energy generator creating generation wealth opportunities. Conversations like this are difficult to maneuver for me because after 15 years in solar I have a lot of the background that some listeners may not know or recollect but I think this may be a great welcome to solar listen for everyone in the industry. You also get a first attempt at the 10 minute episode of SolarWakeup recap at the top, fast forward to minute 10 to get to the interview. I’d certainly appreciate it if you forward the episode along to friends and colleagues.

Solar For Clubs. My friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have seen an uptick in interest for solar PPAs from schools, country clubs, and golf courses, as these off-takers have been impacted differently than other C&I energy consumers during the COVID-19 crisis. Golf & Country Clubs have seen increased revenue from golf and other outdoor activities, while schools would install solar while students aren’t on school grounds. In both scenarios, savings from a solar PPA are extremely attractive. Click here to learn more about how their subscription-free, proprietary software, the SCF suite, can help to speed up your PPA pricing and transaction process.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for December 17th, 2020

What It Means. Today at 11am eastern, join me and Phil Shen as well as our fellow industry insiders for a market update call, particularly focused on residential. You can read Phil’s market analysis on the possible ITC extension here as well as read his weekly market insights by contacting him. Registration for the webinar is here and anyone that’s been listening to the series (this is webinar #10) has definitely been given the most accurate analysis and forecast in the market.

An Early Christmas Gift. When it comes to policy, anything that is not discarded is very much possible. Such is the case, at this moment, that the ITC could be part of the omnibus spending bill. Attached to the omnibus will be a covid stimulus and possibly a tax extenders package where the ITC extension could be included. Congress is on the clock, the government runs our of funds at the end of the day Friday though OMB would consider the timing negligible if it appears a bill is imminent and things could flow into the weekend. Regardless that would require a spending agreement between the four corners and the White House before members vote on the agreed bill since a second go around wouldn’t be allowed by the calendar of events. I don’t anticipate Congress wanting to go home for Christmas without stimulus and a government shutdown so something is going to get done this week, whether tax extenders are included could be known any moment (most likely 5 minutes after you receive this email).

Mayor Pete’s Infra Week. The Department of Transportation is not one steeped in glamour but it offers Mayor Pete, one year my senior, a platform for the future. Over the next four years we will undoubtedly get an infrastructure week and with Granholm at DOE as well as unstoppable market forces see major shift on how we move as Americans. Infrastructure is the government spending bill that is hard for any members of Congress to deny and Pete will have the chance to visit many airports, train stations, and factories around America to spread his message. I’ll tell you another secret how this overlaps with our industry. Highways and railroads have the best easements in America, imagine high voltage DC transmission alongside roads and railroads to move renewable energy around the Country. This may seem far fetched but alas it has been worked on for a decade and needs action to get executed.

30 Years Of Solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup (or find it on spotify or Apple), the podcast, I speak with Dan Shugar. Dan is the CEO of Nextracker, one of the largest tracker company in the world, currently owned by Flex. Dan has been thinking about solar for over 30 years and our conversation weaved through many of the periods that led us to where we are today, a mainstream energy generator creating generation wealth opportunities. Conversations like this are difficult to maneuver for me because after 15 years in solar I have a lot of the background that some listeners may not know or recollect but I think this may be a great welcome to solar listen for everyone in the industry. You also get a first attempt at the 10 minute episode of SolarWakeup recap at the top, fast forward to minute 10 to get to the interview. I’d certainly appreciate it if you forward the episode along to friends and colleagues.

Solar For Clubs. My friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have seen an uptick in interest for solar PPAs from schools, country clubs, and golf courses, as these off-takers have been impacted differently than other C&I energy consumers during the COVID-19 crisis. Golf & Country Clubs have seen increased revenue from golf and other outdoor activities, while schools would install solar while students aren’t on school grounds. In both scenarios, savings from a solar PPA are extremely attractive. Click here to learn more about how their subscription-free, proprietary software, the SCF suite, can help to speed up your PPA pricing and transaction process.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for December 16th, 2020

Taking A Victory Lap. 2020 numbers for Q3 are out from SEIA in their Solar Market Insight. Spoiler, they are really good and I get to take a victory lap alongside this network we’ve created. When the pandemic struck in February, I spent hours talking to you, conducting surveys and trying to put results over sentiment. This led to a SolarWakeup prediction in May where I said that residential solar would not decline by 20%+ but instead grow in 2020. Most were skeptical about that forecast but here we are, prediction is true thanks to you.

The Market Speaks. 2020 has been a year for all of us and somehow in the middle of it the solar industry is going to grow like crazy, including in a residential segment that was originally expected to shed 1GW from 2019 levels. With 69GW of utility scale solar already contracted, we’re entering the SEIA dubbed solar decade. This means that solar, as an industry, is ready to let Joe Biden put sunshine on our panels (we need a wind in our sails analogy) and supercharge what’s ahead. The energy and transportation transition needs solar to work hard to do it all. Jobs and opportunity lie ahead, you should all take a moment and thank each other for the work you’ve done to get us here.

Hear More. Tomorrow at 11am eastern, join me and Phil Shen as well as our fellow industry insiders for a market update call, particularly focused on residential. You can read Phil’s market analysis on the possible ITC extension here as well as read his weekly market insights by contacting him. Registration for the webinar is here and anyone that’s been listening to the series (this is webinar #10) has definitely been given the most accurate analysis and forecast in the market.

An ITC Inside Straight? Late yesterday evening, at the time of this writing, there seems to be a narrow window for a 1-year extension of the ITC. This extension would be included within a broader extenders bill inside the omnibus spending bill. The omnibus will also get a ~$700b covid stimulus attached to it, making it too big to fail at final vote. Whether solar gets included during the legislative drafting and negotiation is likely to occur overnight and maybe announced by the time you read this.

The DOE Secretary. Now officially the President-elect, Joe Biden is naming Governor Granholm as the next Secretary of Energy. SolarWakeup proposed the Governor for the position 4 years ago (see here). Granholm was Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011, close to the domestic auto sector and big supporter of solar. She was a big fan of Uni-Solar and courted companies like Suniva to open plants in Michigan. She personally bragged about the manufacturing plants to me in 2010, I will vouch for her enthusiasm for the solar sector. She joins the administration from her current post at UC Berkeley moving to DC from Oakland, where many of you are reading this newsletter from. A company she sits on the board of, ChargePoint, recently announced that it was going public via SPAC. They can definitely contact me to fill that board seat.

30 Years Of Solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup (or find it on spotify or Apple), the podcast, I speak with Dan Shugar. Dan is the CEO of Nextracker, one of the largest tracker company in the world, currently owned by Flex. Dan has been thinking about solar for over 30 years and our conversation weaved through many of the periods that led us to where we are today, a mainstream energy generator creating generation wealth opportunities. Conversations like this are difficult to maneuver for me because after 15 years in solar I have a lot of the background that some listeners may not know or recollect but I think this may be a great welcome to solar listen for everyone in the industry. You also get a first attempt at the 10 minute episode of SolarWakeup recap at the top, fast forward to minute 10 to get to the interview. I’d certainly appreciate it if you forward the episode along to friends and colleagues.

Solar For Clubs. My friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have seen an uptick in interest for solar PPAs from schools, country clubs, and golf courses, as these off-takers have been impacted differently than other C&I energy consumers during the COVID-19 crisis. Golf & Country Clubs have seen increased revenue from golf and other outdoor activities, while schools would install solar while students aren’t on school grounds. In both scenarios, savings from a solar PPA are extremely attractive. Click here to learn more about how their subscription-free, proprietary software, the SCF suite, can help to speed up your PPA pricing and transaction process.

Opinion

Best, Yann